Sean plays a lot of tunes "just like Chet." He's an incredibly gifted guitarist who has worked hard to hone his craft. He's been a "star" at CAAS since he was a kid. Funny thing is, though, that he once told me that he only gets to play his "Chet" stuff once a year when he comes to the convention. His Heartaches is to die for!

Palmer, that's true of a lot of us. We practice our tails off and never get to perform our "Chet stuff" or "Jerry stuff" between conventions! At least he's on the stage! In many cases, the performances are in the lobby and wherever we find ourselves with those who are interested. Oh, I take back my earlier statement. I usually spend a few days with Audie Wykle before the convention and am "in paradise" and then it's all over and I go home. It's pretty hard for those of us who are not self-promoters. Whoops!, maybe I just did!.......lol

Audie Wykle? Last I heard he was living somewhere in OHIO - wasn't he?

Naw, just joakin'... He came to one of our Ohio Fingerstyle Guitar Club Pickin' Parties this past winter and darned near burned the place down pickin' with Jessie Smith and Chaz Mechenbier.

Speaking of which, Rande - I fixed that never being able to show off (share) our labor of love of thumb pickin' between conventions dilemma years ago when I attended my first CAAS - I came home and started a Chet club!

Yes Palmer, Audie is in Logan, OH, which surprisingly is over 300 miles from me but we try to get together every year in April or May. I'll be at his place this Wednesday for a few days.

I really haven't found anyone around here who is even interested in my style. Many admire it but nobody even begins to play it and it remains a "mystery" to them. So I end up performing for churches and a few other local gigs but there is nobody to actually play with or that can even relate to it. So I just keep practicing and improving and waiting until my next trip to "Chet Disneyland"...lol.

My earlier point was that at the convention there are many people who are fans of the style and many of them can play it but it seems that we just all wander around observing the few who are fortunate enough to be showcased. I always pick up a few things to take home with me, and while I'm there I share with a few who happen to stumble by and are interested.

I can't even imagine starting a club, considering I never even meet one fingerstyle instrumentalist. When I go to the local Guitar Center in Kalamazoo, all it takes is for me to start playing and the eyes roll and people walk away. Then a 16 year old kid picks up a guitar and buries everything he does in distortion and gathers crowds. It's not about the crowd thing but it reflects the preferences of society these days.

Firstly, Sean Weaver is a truly excellent player. There is a quite a bit of his playing on Youtube to watch including stuff that other people have recorded of his performances. Do yourself a favour and look him up on his performance of 'Liza'. I know I'm singling that one out but that's a challenging tune and he played it really well.

In terms of performing I completely identify with your comments. The only performing I do is on Youtube. So most of the time I'm holed up in the house and the only people that ever hear me play is my wife and whoever bothers to listen in Youtube. In Australia, the style is probably even more esoteric than in the US. I can't find any fingerpicking clubs here at all and we certainly don't have a conference that I know of. We are just too small population-wise. So you guys are kind of lucky from my perspective.

That Tommy Emmanuel came from here is kind of remarkable in my opinion because it's hard to even get a good range of thumbpicks in a local guitar store without sending away to the US.

I never meant to insinuate that Sean Weaver lacked in talent. I've seen him perform many times. One thing I'm not sure of is whether or not he pushes himself upon the convention organizers or if they simply invite him to perform, which of course would make it much easier for him. I just know what it's like to continue to improve and to "know" that others at such a gathering, which is only annually, would appreciate it and to not be a self promoter and to go back home unknown and once again practice in oblivion for another year. The only solution I can come up with is one that would never work for my personality.....self-promotion.....which I can't seem to bring myself to do. And no, this post doesn't count!...lol

DagerRande wrote:I never meant to insinuate that Sean Weaver lacked in talent

The thought that you would mean that never even crossed my mind Rande. Not even for a split second.

I'm just lamenting the same type of things as you - only probably more so due to my location.

If I didn't post my vids up on this forum or some other guitar forum that I belong to no-one would ever hear me play at all and there would be a lot less motivation to get songs finished if you just did them in the solitary confinement of your house. There is a significant investment in time to get the songs up to speed as you know.

That would be a shame and pretty sad I think.

It's unlikely (but not impossible) you will ever see me at CAAS - so I don't have the choice to wait for that event to perform for anyone...

Well Mr. Astro, I've been needing to post more things on the Internet for a long time. What I really need is to be able to do it myself and not have to depend on anyone else. It has been a matter of finances but may be more possible this year.

Regarding attending the convention, I can assure you that merely attending will NOT get you on stage. You have to know the right people and pretty much have to depend upon an invitation. One thing I've noticed is that if people have known you for awhile and haven't yet heard you much, they conclude that you probably aren't all that good and you just become friends socially. Those who are good and are heard right from the start usually have an "elite status" that remains with them year after year and people are immediately interested every time they see them.

My conclusion is that self-marketing gets people noticed unless you are lucky and happen to have been heard by someone of influence. I think the YouTube postings may make a big difference. Look up Martin Tallstrom sometime. I don't think he as ever been to a convention but because of what we've all seen online, he would definitely be invited on stage and would be a big hit. There are also others we are aware of who we've not yet met. Of course, YouTube has made a huge difference for Tommy Emmanuel. I've heard him ask the audience who first heard of him because of YouTube and a large majority of hands went up.